Teaching Darkness: Job Quest
by Rae Logan
Summary: Part 3 in "Teaching Darkness" series. Mephiles has been personality flopped, beaten up, kidnapped, electrocuted, possessed, drowned, and "dead" for six minutes... Now he must face his toughest challenge yet... getting a job...
1. It Starts

Here's Rae Logan with a new "Teaching Darkness" Story... This time... Mephiles has to get a job :D

My friends and I have been tying with this concept for months now, even before I gave you guys story two, so this one is a break from "Mephil-angst"... whatever you wanna call it...

Enjoy:

* * *

Mephiles bit down on his piece of oat cereal as he watched T.V. He had to say he enjoyed the marshmallow kinds fairly well, the marshmallow pieces even more. He picked through his pieces in the bowl, which he had not bothered to put milk in it, as he had found out recently about his apparent allergy to milk and other dairies, as he was a hedgehog, and found, upon ingesting eight fluid ounces of the white substance, that he had a reaction, all under the subjects of: gastrointestinal, dermatological and respiratory (Along with upset stomach, he also had hives and a temporary bout of asthma…), making him vow, as he laid on the couch, curled up in the most pathetic of ways possible, as sick as one can be, that he would never so much as try anything that had the name "Milk" somewhere on it's labeling. 

Watching some lucky contestant play "Plinko", he cheered along with the audience at hoping the person would get the $1000 spot. It hit the zero right next to it. Typical. Breathing a comment to himself, he stated the show was a little better when Bob Barker was the host, though he had only seen several reruns, most of which on YouTube.

Just then, the T.V. died. Or so it seemed.

Mephiles yelped, and jumped up, his cereal flying everywhere as his bowl hit the ground, and he began to check every possible reason it could have turned off. It was plugged in, the cable was hooked up, and the box was on… what could be wrong?!

A throat clearing cough behind him made him turn around, and he saw Shadow leaning onto the back of the couch, the remote in his waving hand, a bored expression on his face.

Mephiles narrowed his eyes, and stood up, folding his arms and tapping his foot impatiently, the very foot that had finally finished healing the month before. He cleared his own throat and said: "_Yeeeesss?_"

"We need to talk… You watch too much television…"

"So?"

"You don't have _any _hobbies…"

"And?"

Shadow walked around the side of the couch to sit down before answering.

"That's not a good thing…"

"Why not? I'm perfectly fine…"

"If so… name three places you been since you got those bandages of your foot… and the 'living room', 'kitchen' and 'bathroom' don't count…"

Mephiles paused before smiling smugly.

"The hallway…"

Shadow's eyebrow twitched.

"So you admit not leaving the house for at least a month?"

"Yeah… so? Not like it's a bad thing…"

"It is…" Shadow leaned forward, placing the remote out of Mephiles' line of vision, as he couldn't seem to stop eyeing it. "And, as I'm sure you know… God help me if you don't, that you can get sick from staying indoors too long…"

"What's the worst thing that can happen?"

"Ask Rae… she said she got a lung infection from breathing 'hazardous' air form her cousin's bedroom… She says lung infections are _not_ fun… they make it hurt when you breathe, you have to have an inhaler until they heal, which takes weeks and all fast paced activities you love doing are unbearable. And I _know _for a fact you don't like pain…"

Mephiles blinked.

"Okay…" He started. "What's the _second_ worst thing that could happen?"

"Shut up… you're going outside… and either getting a hobby, or a job…"

"_A JOB!?_"

"Yes… Rouge and I both have one and we can't keep paying for everything on you… you're old enough to support yourself…"

"No, I'm not! I'm, like, ten years old!"

"In this time era… yes… but from where you came from before you came to this time… you're _two hundred and ten _years old."

"I don't even know how to tell what foods I'm allergic to, let alone keep track of my medical problems!" He yelled back frantically. "I'm _so _not able to take care of myself on my own!"

"So you admit to being completely helpless?"

"No fair! No fair! Cheap shot! Cheap shot!" Mephiles tried to counter, knowing if he didn't get things on his side, he would lose the argument. "Rouge! Back me up here, please!"

"Actually… I agree with Shadow…" Rouge said, sticking her head out of the doorway to the kitchen.

"_WHAT!?_"

"Really… spending too much time indoors is bad for you…'

"Need I remind you what happened _last _time I walked out that door?" Mephiles pointed to his right foot, his ears flat against his head. "I not only was kidnapped, I was electrocuted (my hands still feel the twinge sometimes), possessed (that still haunts me), my ankle was broken, I drowned, _and_ I was considered dead for six whole minutes, not to mention I got a nice chance to speak with my dead 'father' during those six minutes…"

"C'mon…" Said Shadow, shaking his head. "What are the chances that'll happen again?"

"You never know…"

"You'll never know anything until you go out there and see for yourself…"

"No…"

"Either you go… or we ban you from the T.V…"

"Big deal, I can go online…"

"We'll ban that too…"

"… You wouldn't…"

"We would…"

"… But…"

"Try us… I dare you…"

Mephiles gave a defeated sigh.

"Okay… where do I go?"

* * *

Mephiles took one look around the fast food place, turned around and bolted outside, Shadow having to catch him by the arm as he tried to make a run for it. 

"Calm down… It can't be that bad…" He told the shade calmly.

Mephiles looked up, his eyes watery as he tried to catch his breathe. He had started to have a panic attack once he had seen all the people inside the building, him not being one for crowds, as he had found out recently that he had a type of social phobia, one big enough to rival his fear of large bodies of water. He was shaking, his body breaking out in a cold sweat, his heart was pounding, and he was hyperventilating, his eyes wide as he seemed stuck in a dazed-like trance.

Shadow recognized this as a problem, and carefully led Mephiles away from Burger King as he started to regain himself slowly, and he looked at Shadow reproachfully and weakly.

"… D-d-don't make me g-go in there again…"

"Are you okay? You don't look good… what happened?"

"… t-t-too many p-people…" He closed his eyes and shivered, slumping against the tree that was giving them shade, and he slid to the ground with a sigh that said he was glad that was over with. Shaking feverishly, he had also started to get a stomachache from his anxiety, which had begun to make him feel ill. He took a deep breath through his nose, and focused on calming down, his dizzy feeling subsiding slowly, but gradually.

He sighed softly. He _really _needed to learn how to control his reactions. He looked up, and saw Shadow staring down at him, an eyebrow raised in concern.

"… I'm okay…" Mephiles reassured him, waving his hand lightly, now feeling much better after his quick meditation. "… Let's try a different place…"

"Like where?"

"… I dunno… but _any_place but here… I just don't like crowds…"

"We'll see… most places have crowds anyway…"

Mephiles squeaked.

* * *

The orange cat leaned forward, setting the fill in form to the side as he looked at the crystalline hedgehog, who willed himself to stop shaking… but failed quite horribly. 

The cat took off his square framed glasses and said: "So why do you think you're qualified for this job?"

Mephiles looked at Shadow for help, but his ebony counterpart shook his head and said: "Sorry, man… you gotta do this on your own…"

Mephiles swallowed hard, and turned his attention back to the cat, who was waiting patiently, his yellow eyes staying fixed on Mephiles. Mephiles opened his mouth to say something, but clamped his mouth shut when his mind blanked out on him, and he was left with a lot of "uhs" as his answers.

The cat flicked an ear and said quite calmly: "What would you say is your best quality?"

Again, Mephiles stayed frozen in his chair, shock still, as if he went brain dead. The cat sighed and looked at Shadow.

"Is he _always_ like this?"

"Pretty much… he's not one for anything new…"

"I see…"

Mephiles ears flattened as his eyes went wide, and his hands clamped to the seat of the chair, enough to cause it to splinter in some places. Shadow sweat dropped.

"Maybe we should try this another time…" He said, trying to pry Mephiles' fingers off the chair, but it looked like they weren't getting off anytime soon. "Uh… about your chair…"

"Keep it… I can get another…"

"Okay… thanks…" Shadow nodded as he started to tug the chair, with Mephiles frozen to it, towards the door, nodding at the cat.

Once outside, Mephiles snapped out of his daze with a quick blink, and looked up at Shadow.

"What happened?"

"Let's just say…" Shadow said, shaking his head as he let go of the chair's backing. "… There might not be a second interview…"

Mephiles lowered his head, and murmured "… Oh… sorry…" under his breath, sinking himself closer to the ground.

Shadow tried to shake the situation off like it was a joke, and said: "That's okay… it was your first interview… the first one's always the hardest…"

"I didn't get to say _any_thing!" Mephiles looked up, and Shadow was a little shocked to find that Mephiles looked like he was about to cry, his eyes tearing up, and his voice was starting to crack. "I'm a _failure!_"

"No, you're not… You're just a little scared…"

"I_ couldn't_ go into that food place, I _couldn't_ do an interview, I _don't_ know what I'm allergic to and what I'm _not_, I don't even have a _life!_ I have to rely on you and Rouge to take _care_ of me, and-"

He was stopped when Shadow raised his hand in the air to cut him off so that Shadow could speak.

"Try focusing on the good stuff about yourself… if you keep thinking about the bad, then of course you'll seem like a failure…"

"_What _good things?"

"Like how you managed to totally rewrite your path for life, or the friends that you've made, the people you have that care about what happens to you, or how you're willing to come out of your safety zone, and actually try to find a job despite your fear of crowds…"

Mephiles blinked and blushed.

"That's not really too much to brag about… _every_one has that…"

"But for you… it's a big step forward…"

Mephiles raised an eyebrow before asking: "How do you stay so positive about everything?"

Shadow grinned nervously and scratched the back of his head, before saying: "I'll admit it's not easy…"

"Oh…"

Pause.

"Hey, Shadow?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm… kinda stuck to the chair…"

* * *

End Chapter One... Mephiles' Job hunt begins :D 

I'm planning on having Rae and Jak return, and this time, my friend fan character makes a guest appearence... whadya think?


	2. Felt the Sun

Sorry this took a while... My brother's leaving for the Air Force tomorrow at 11, so I wanted to go someplace today... 

Hope you'll like this chapter... My friend Kyrenoria's (not her real name) fan character makes her internet FanFiction debute in this chapter. Just so you know...I'm putting the following disclaimer for this chapter:

I do NOT own: Shadow, Rouge, Mephiles, Sonic, (Mystery Character... read for him at the end), or Downtown Westopolis

I DO own: Rae Logan, Jak, and the orange cat from chapter one (sorry... no name...)

My Friend owns: Kyrenoria 

Okay... so here's chapter 2... enjoy

Oh... if you wanna see the new Mephy for the series... check out: http/ raelogan. deviantart. com/ art/ Mephiles- TD2- Style- 80012259 (Just remove the spaces... darn FanFiction and their hatred of URLs...)

* * *

After what seemed to take ten minutes… Shadow was able to pry Mephiles' fingers from the chair. As it turned out, Mephiles had clamped his hands to the chair so tightly; his fingers had frozen in that position. Actually… it wasn't really "pry"… more like "wait until his hands relax… _then_ take them off". 

They left the chair in the waiting room, mostly because they didn't want to have to tote a partially splintered chair around all day, and made their way downtown in search of "help wanted" signs.

Partway down the street, they saw Rae exiting out of a pet store, Jak leashed and trailing behind her as she tried to open a bag of "Doggie Snax", actually having to stop walking for a moment, sit down and try to tear her teeth into the bag when the "tear-along-dotted-line" bit didn't work. 

She looked up just as her teeth tore the bag in half, and several snacks somehow backfired in her face. Covered in dog treats, she nevertheless smiled when she spotted Shadow and Mephiles, Jak tugging at his leash to go greet them.

"Hey, guys!" She said, picking up some of the treats that didn't hit the side walk, and putting them in what was left to call a bag. "I see you've got those bandages off earlier than I thought you would."

She unclipped Jak from the leash, and the dog took off towards Mephiles, who bent down, and scratched him behind the ears, and received a lick on the hand.

"Wow, Jak seems really happy to see you…" She commented as she put the treat bag in the paper bag that she had carried it out in, and stuck that in one of her tails. "It took him half a year to get used to my brother like that…"

"I didn't know you had a brother…" Shadow said, watching Mephiles play around with Jak, both seeming very happy.

"I got four of 'em… all half. One I've never met, one I haven't seen in six years, one I haven't seen in five, and one I live with, but he's going into the air force."

"Are you the youngest?"

"Nope. Firstborn daughter of both my parents. Two brothers are older, the two I haven't seen in a while are younger. I also have a sister; I haven't seen her in a while as well. We're about two years apart in age."

"So who has you? Your mom, or your dad?"

"Neither… my grandma… I call her 'Mom', because she also adopted my and my brother that I live with. That makes for an interesting family tree, y'know…"

"How so?" Asked Mephiles.

"Like that I'm my brother's niece, aunt and sister, that I'm my own niece and aunt, my father is also my brother… and… well, you get the idea…"

"What a strange and interesting life you lead…" Said Shadow, shaking his head.

"Yeah… I know…" Rae scratched the back of her head, grinning, her light gray muzzle taking on a shade of pink around her cheeks. "So, what are you guys doing here?"

"Finding Mephiles a job…"

Rae froze comically, raising her eyebrows slowly, and she seemed to be holding back a bigger grin.

"You're… kidding… right?"

"Why do you say? Don't you have one?"

"Naw, not really… Mom takes care of everything for me… Besides… I don't do well if I'm too far away from home, for too long without someone I know. It's a panic thing…"

"Do you _know _any places?"

Rae thought for a moment, and then nodded slowly.

"My friend, Kyrenoria, has a comic shop that she needs help running…" She said. "I mean, besides me and her… no one else works there…"

"I thought you said you didn't work…"

Rae laughed.

"I don't… I help her because she's my friend, as well as my teammate…"

"You're on a team?"

"Well… I wouldn't really say 'team'… we've been trying to get it to work right for almost three years… but aside from some adventures going wrong, and us being stranded by our flight member too many times to count… we haven't really done anything worth calling a successful team mission…"

"What's your team's name?"

"We've toyed around with a few… but for the most part, 'Team Trinity', because there are three of us, and we kinda hoped, because three is a strong and powerful number, that the team would be too… but it didn't really work as well as we had planned… too many… problems…"

"Like what?"

"Let's not talk about it right now…." Rae shook her head. "But I can see if Ky will let you work for her…"

"Thanks…"

* * *

Mephiles was staring at the door to the small shop, which had seemed nearly invisible compared to the large buildings around it. It was shrouded in some sort of fog, and Mephiles could have sworn he saw a wolf run by, barking or some such. His fur and quills stood on end as Rae leaned over next to him, Jak in her arms. Shadow had left Mephiles in Rae's care.

"Have you ever wondered…" She said, as if she had pondered this for years and hoped that he would know the answer. "… why most comic shops are so small compared to everything around them? Like they don't expect very many people to come? I can't imagine why, though…" She took a step back. "… comic shops are _my _paradise…" She pushed the door open, and the customer alert bell went off.

"Hey, Ky!" She called, looking around. "Ky!"

What seemed to be a brownish red fox, with a fiery orange color to her accent fur, and had a very bushy tail, and small "Rouge-ears", was listening to an mp3 player behind the counter, singing Three Days Grace "Pain" at the top of her voice. She was wearing a white, short sleeve shirt with light blue trim and an "S" on the left side, blue denim jeans, and white Nikes with red and black trim. She had a red dog tag necklace with a somewhat familiar symbol on it, gold loop earrings, a pair of lightly darkened glasses, and leather brown gloves. She was sitting in a chair, her feet on the counter, her eyes closed as she nodded to the beat of the music. Rae sweatdropped.

"Here…" She handed Jak to Mephiles. "… I'll take care of this…"

Walking behind the counter, she swiped her hand and caught the headphones by the cord and yanked them off, yelling "_KY!_" as she did so.

The "fox" jumped in the air and fell to the ground with a thud, Rae's ear flipping back as Mephiles saw the gloved hand reach up and grasp the counter, a set of angry ocean-blue eyes fixed on the purple fox as Ky pulled herself up from the ground, her glasses resting on the bridge of her nose.

"Dammit, Rae!" She growled as Rae took a step back and giggled nervously. "How many times to I have to tell you to stop doing that?"

"I found someone to work here!" Rae said quickly, pointing at the hedgehog holding her dog, the very hedgehog looking as if he felt like he just got pulled into a situation he would have rather he didn't.

Instantly, Kyrenoria's mood brightened, and she fixed her glasses.

"Hi!" She waved, sitting back in her chair, and putting her feet back on the counter. "Welcome to Comic World. We've been needing some new people to help with the shelving and stuff like that."

Mephiles set Jak down, who scurried behind the counter and pawed at Ky's chair. Ky reached down and petted him, Jak's tail wagging happily. 

"I see you've also brought Jak…" Ky commented to Rae.

"Yeah, well… you know he likes to be with me…"

"True…"

"So…" Mephiles started slowly. "It's okay if I work here? Rae said you might let me…"

"That depends… what's you name?"

"Mephiles the Dark…"

"Ah,_ Mephiles_…" Ky set her feet down, and leaned forward against the counter with great interest, her teeth bared in a grin. "Yea… Rae's told me so much about you… says her dog likes you a lot…"

"… Is… is that a _bad_ thing?"

"No, not at all…" Ky shook her head, still grinning. "Jak just seems to have this ability of picking out the _good_ ones…"

"Good ones of what?" Mephiles was starting to get nervous again. This "fox" was freaking him out a little.

"_Any_thing, you name it. Dog food, people, books, games, paths… this dog's a genius!"

"Is that true, Rae?" Mephiles tilted his head to the side to look at Rae, who kinda shrugged.

"I've only spotted him doing that with people and dog food… he actually detected recalled dog food the day before it was all over the news last year. Wouldn't touch the stuff at all… turned his nose and walked away."

"Yep… Rae's little Jak's a genius…" Ky picked him up and started to pet him like how most mastermind's do to their cats. Mephiles backed away.

"Ky… stop that, you're scaring him…" Rae gestured to the hedgehog as she took Jak away form Ky. Ky laughed nervously.

"Sorry… it's just a little joke…" She tried to reassure him, but Mephiles looked anything but that.

"Don't mind her…" Rae said, shaking her head. "She does that sometimes…"

Mephiles did seem to mind… very much actually. He backed away to the door, and reached his hand back to push the door open… and nothing happened.

Feeling his panic rise and hit over the top completely, he yelped and pushed again, before he realized the door said "pull". Feeling a little stupid, he started to tug it forward, before Rae said, in a kinda hurt sounding voice: "You're not… _leaving_… are you?"

Mephiles stopped, feeling a pang of guilt strike through him. After all… Rae had not only tried to help him find a job, but also pulled him out of the water the month before, and tried to resuscitate him… though it was still debatable if her CPR had brought him back, or if it was his choice of coming back that brought him back, or it could any combination of the two. She had also helped Shadow find where Eggman was holding him captive, and helped with the patching up afterward… all in the same day.

He sighed, his ears flat, and he let go of the handle, then turned around.

"… No… not really…"

Rae's eyes brightened up and she smiled, hopping up and down excitedly as her tails waved behind her.

"This'll be _great!_" She exclaimed as Ky shuffled through some drawers. "we can get so much more stuff done now that we have another person helping!"

"Yeah, yeah… that's fascinating, Rae…" Ky said uninterestedly, pulling out a thin stack of papers, and a rather thick book form the drawer and setting them on the counter. "I'll need you to sign this disclaimer, which states that I will not be held accountable for any injury, illness, mishap, bone fractures, death or stolen souls you may experience while working here. I will also not be held accountable for any lost possessions within the building…" She took her glasses off in a way similar to Horatio Caine in "CSI: Miami", and leaned forward to stare at the hedgehog. "… Think you got all that? I just need a signature…"

"Wait… what?"

"I'll also need you to read this manual… it'll help…" Ky handed him the book, which was entitled Protecting Yourself From Curses For Complete Dolts: The T.D Edition. 

"_Hu-wha!_" was all Mephiles could manage as his eyes widened. Rae shrugged.

"I had to read it, too… It's actually pretty helpful. No 'shlumpies' here…"

"_What?_"

"Oh… and watch out for a plush fox… he shows up every now and then…" Ky said, half interested. 

Mephiles was spooked now.

* * *

As he was putting away a few plush toys, several of which looked like, for some odd reason to him, the blue hedgehog he had wanted dead seven months previous, he pulled out a rather unexpected item from the box.

A yellow, twin tailed, plush fox toy with a thin and short metal rod coming out of the top of its head, which led to a mysterious glowing red gem, not at all like a Chaos Emerald. It stared at him with its blank, black eyes, and it hung floppily in his hands. Turning it over, he found a zipper on its back. 

He wondered if this was what Ky was talking about, and shrugged it off, wondering how a plush fox toy could be a problem. He climbed up the ladder and set it between two Sonic plushies, wondering, as he climbed back down, why Ky usually played a song about "feeling sunshine" on the overhead every fifteen minutes.

Suddenly, his ears perked up as he heard the sound of fabric and cotton being torn to shreds and he looked up quickly. 

The plush fox was sitting just as he had left it, head tilted and body sagging a little. What Mephiles found frightening was that the Sonic toys were shredded beyond recognition, nothing more than a pile of blue scraps of fabric and polyester stuffing, some of which floated to the floor. Mephiles watched in stupor as a puff of stuffing drifted to the ground, his eyes trailing along its path, before he looked up at the fox toy.

Suddenly, the gem flashed a red light and Mephiles felt himself hit the floor as his vision went black.

* * *

He opened his eyes slowly, and found Rae standing over him, staring with some concern.

"You didn't read the manual all the way… did you?"

Mephiles gasped harshly and jumped up, scanning every corner of the room frantically, breathing as if he had just run a couple miles straight.

"What the _hell_ was that thing?" He yelled, his eyes darting from side to side, searching for the plush fox.

Rae sighed.

"You saw T.D, didn't you?"

"T… D?"

"Tails Doll…"

"I don't know what it was… but it scared the ever-loving bejesus out of me!"

"If it was a twin tailed fox toy with a gem… it was the Tails Doll…"

"The what?"

"Don't tell me you've never heard of the Tails Doll?"

Mephiles shook his head, still checking around the room.

"Ky will fill you in… she's more experienced with the curse than me…" Rae took a quick glance around as well, and shook her head. "But you're pretty luck for your first encounter…"

"How so?"

Rae clenched her teeth and frowned, as if she disapproved of the idea.

"Usually…" She said, more deadpan than he had ever heard her. "… He steals your soul…"

Mephiles gasped and shuddered at the thought. He wondered what he had gotten himself into.

* * *

I hope I don't get cursed for this... 

What do you think the "T.D" stand for in the manual:D


	3. Rae's Stuff Revealed

Sorry this took a while... I was going to introduce a new character... but I figure to wait until later...

This is just a filler chapter... not to much development... 

Enjoy...

* * *

Mephiles decided: _That's it… I have to get out of here… But how do I tell that to Rae? She seemed so excited that I was going to work here… and I _do _kinda owe her…_

He looked up to see Rae happily shelving mangas, her tails waving as she made comments about each one like: "… When I get enough money… I am _so _buying you…" and "… Hmm… didn't know volume seven was out already… damn, I'm behind…"

Suddenly, she churred excitedly as she jumped of the ladder (at the third step!), and held up a particular manga in front of Mephiles' face. 

"Do you know what _this_ is?" She said, her tails crissing and crossing with excitement. Apparently, she got excited very easily, as her eyes seemed to light up at her discovery.

Mephiles, however, couldn't really see that well, as the manga was right in his sight, blocking out everything, and making it very blurry to see.

"I… can't really tell… I can't see with it up so close…"

"Oh, sorry…" Rae pulled it back, and Mephiles could see that it was a copy of the manga adaptation of The Nightmare Before Christmas, which he could tell by the cover. He had never really seen the movie, what with his ten year entrapment in the Scepter of Darkness, meaning he missed out on some things. He had heard of it recently, with a little clicking around on YouTube, and part of him was interested in it, and the other part found it a little scary looking, so he wanted to wait until later or it he could convince Shadow to watch with him.

"I saw the movie along time ago when I was a little kid…" Rae said, grinning as Jak looked up at her from the floor. "I really liked it, but I kinda lost track of it existing after my foster days… I didn't remember it existed until sophomore year… kinda silly, huh?"

"No…" Mephiles shook his head, hoping to direct the conversation another way, so he could try and bring up the possibility of him leaving. "Not at all…"

"I've wanted to watch it again, but Mom said she wasn't going to buy it… she only seems to like a few Tim Burton movies, like the Batman ones, and I _think_ she liked the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory one, though that may be just me… Anyway, I have three versions of "This Is Halloween" on my player, phone, and computer… I just love listening to them, don't you?"

"Actually… I haven't seen the movie… at all…"

Rae's eyes widened in surprise.

"How old are you?"

"Depends, what time era do you want to go by?"

"… How about the one that's in this one first, then the one where you're from…"

"Ten years, and in the future… two hundred and ten…"

""Wow… that's… unexpected…"

"And how old are _you?_"

"Seventeen… going on eighteen… you're… about as old as my 'baby' brother… you know?"

"That just made my age more embarrassing…"

"Try being as old as I am, and having the brain of a small child sometimes… _that's_ embarrassing…"

Pause.

"When's your birthday anyway?"

"Why?" Mephiles asked, wondering how the conversation shifted to that.

"I like to know my friends' birthdays, so I can know ahead of time and I don't forget them…" Rae set the manga aside, pulled her phone out of her tails and flipped it open to get to "Calendar". "You do know your own birthday… right?" She joked playfully.

Mephiles froze. He had never really tried to figure out his birthday before. After all, it would mean he would have to think back to the lab accident, and calculate the days from there. And, frankly, he didn't want to think about anything having to do with that day, at least… not now.

"Are you okay?" Rae asked concernedly, sliding her phone shut, and tilting her head. 

Mephiles had tensed up at her question about his date of birth, and seemed quite troubled when she had joked about him not knowing it. He regained his composure and turned away, crossing his arms, and taking a step towards the counter, keeping his head lowered as he pushed the memory of the laboratory to the back of his mind.

"… I'm fine… I just… I… I dunno…" He blinked, and saw that Rae was now in front of him, her head tilted questioningly. 

"Dunno what? Your birthday?" She asked.

"A… a _lot_ of things…" He said, turning away, and taking a step towards the back room. He felt like he needed to get out of the room right now; he could feel a dizzy spell coming on, and he knew if he didn't find a place to sit down, his body would make him, or rather make him drop to the ground again. He pressed a hand to his forehead. "… C-can you help me? I need to sit down…"

Rae nodded quickly, and braced him under his elbow, leading him to the chair in the back room, Jak tailing behind them.

"You're not okay…" She said slowly, as she let go of his arm. "I dunno what's bugging you, but I can feel your aura… and it doesn't feel happy…"

"Wha..?" Mephiles half forced himself to say as he saw Rae shiver. Rae looked down at him.

"What I meant to say is…" She stopped for a moment, before forcing herself to laugh in hopes that would help the shady hedgehog feel a little better. "It's kinda hard to say… I can't really read body language too well… but I can sense the way one's feeling in the air. It work the same way with little kids and babies… I can feel more or less what you can if I'm close enough… I think it's called 'empathy'… or some kinda '-pathy'… no… wait, its 'empathy'…"

"You… can feel… what I'm feeling?"

"To a degree… let's just say, if _you _start crying around me… you won't be the only one…" She bent down, and picked up Jak. "It's dead useful, too… I can feel whatever Jak's feeling, too, and I don't even have to be in the same room too…"

"How is-?"

"Let's put it this way… Jak needs to go out… and my Cousin is holding me 'captive' in the rec room, while Jak's in my room. He knows he can't go in my room, so he's not a happy puppy. I'm in the other room, and I suddenly feel like he's next to me, whining… but he's in my room. I get up, and take him outside… he's a happy puppy now. Then again… that could just be an example of our Dog-Owner relationship..."

Mephiles looked up at her, his dizziness leaving a little.

"And now…" She said, grinning a little. "I sense that you're feeling somewhat better… though your mind is still burdened with a heavy thought…"

"How do you _know_ this stuff?"

"I dunno… I just do…" Rae said as Jak licked her hand and let out a high pitched whine. Rae looked down at him and nodded. "Jak says he's gotta go… hold on…" 

She set him down and walked out crossed the main room to open the door, Jak shooting outside.

"Try to use the tree!" She told him loudly, before waving to the left. "The other one… no… the _other _one… good boy!" She laughed nervously before turning her head upward to give him privacy. "Silly dog…" She said mostly to herself as Jak trotted back in, tail wagging as he made his way to Mephiles. "Can't believe I've had him for over a year already… time flies…"

Mephiles raised his eyes at her, watching her flick a finger against the tufts on her left ear, her tails twitching. 

"So… tell me more about this… Tails Doll Curse…" He said, watching her tails wave behind her.

Rae looked up, no amount any emotion expressed on her face.

"You sure you want me to tell you? Ky is more experienced… she would be a wiser choice…"

"No… it's okay… you can tell me…"

Rae heaved a sigh.

"Okay… fine… Stitched with evil, stuffed with hate… he is the last thing you see before you die…" Rae started. "He is hungry for souls…"

* * *

"And that's why you should never, ever, _ever _screw around with a curse like that…" Rae concluded, turning the lights back on, which had turned off in the middle of her explanation of the curse, nearly giving Mephiles a heart attack. "Faulty wiring… I _told_ Ky we needed copper, not aluminum wiring… but, _noooo_… 'It's cheaper.' She said'." Rae growled lowly.

Mephiles exhaled for the first time in three minutes, his lungs starting to hurt form lack of oxygen.

"Anyway…" Rae continued. "As far as the curse goes… Kyrenoria has T.D. under control for now… and as part of the deal, Jak and I are off limits for his soul payment… in fact, he only steals souls on her command…"

"Wait… she _owns _that thing?"

"Not really own… more like a… partnership…"

"Partner… ship?"

Rae pointed a little disapprovingly at Ky, who was currently being hassled by a tax collector at the counter. Ky was writing down some numbers as the tax collector went on.

"You haven't paid your taxes, yet…"

"I'm sorry, I'll get to that later…"

"It's about a month overdue…"

"Whadya want from me? I'm sixteen!"

"We're going to have to repo the shop…"

"I'm afraid you'll have to leave…"

"I'm sor-"

"T.D! GET HIM!" 

And with the roar of "SCRUMPY!" the plush fox toy leapt over Ky and at the tax collector, who dropped out of sight with a scream. The glow of bright blue washed over the shop, and Ky looked over the edge of the counter with a bored expression on her face. 

"Rae? Do we have any more room in the closet?"

"You have to stop doing that… I am _not_ helping build another closet…"

"Whatever…"

Mephiles was convinced… he was quitting soon. 

* * *

The part about Tails Doll stealing a tax collecter's soul was Kyrenoria's idea, by the way... :D

Laters... 


End file.
